Yes Sir, No Sir
by gerrygee
Summary: When Lieutenant Elizabeth Bennet arrives as the newest officer aboard Commander Darcy's ship, they must overcome all matter of confined spaces, gossiping sailors and awkward late night watches to reach the other side of the storm. Literally. Because there is an enormous cyclone heading their way and she is just not in the mood right now.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

There was a brief moment of quiet contemplation as the man sitting at the metal desk looked over the piece of paper sitting in front of him. There were many words to digest but only three were sending waves of panic, if not apprehensive anticipation, down his spine. A brief smile crossed his lips.

"Sir?"

He looked up from his current occupation, nodding at the sailor standing in his doorway. "How can I help you Able?"

"Sir, the new officer is here." Stepping out of the way, they revealed a young woman: brown hair, brown eyes, nothing extraordinary except that he immediately noticed the way that she smiled her thanks at the sailor, the smell of her perfume and the slight crease between her eyes as she … _glared_ at him.

He stood immediately. "Lieutenant Elizabeth Bennet." He smiled, reaching out his hand in a gesture of good faith. "Last person I thought I would have the pleasure of serving on my ship."

"Commander Fitzwilliam Darcy." She glanced down at his hand and presented her own, unprepared for the increase in tension as she gripped his hand tight and shook. She drew away hastily and brought her eyes back to meet his. "Last person I would ever want to serve under."

Darcy smiled weakly, not sure if he should be hurt or offended by her comment. He cleared his throat. "Even so, Lieutenant, welcome aboard. I trust that you have managed to acquaint yourself with the ship? We're due to depart in twenty-four hours' time."

"Yes Sir, I am aware." Elizabeth glanced away as her name was called before looking back at the man in front of her and giving a brisk nod as she left, "Sir."

Darcy watched the space where Elizabeth had been, letting out the nervous breath of air he had been holding. Sitting back at his desk he ran a hand through his hair, eyes blinking slowly as he tried to digest what had just happened.

Elizabeth Bennet was on his ship. _Lieutenant_ Elizabeth Bennet was on his ship. Lizzie was on his ship. His _ex-_ girlfriend was on ship. And he was her commanding officer.

Darcy let out a soft groan. _Shit_.

* * *

 **A/N: This is just a concept and I don't have a very clear idea of what sort of direction it will head towards (aside from the obvious, of course). However, drop a comment and let me know if you liked it enough to warrant a continuance. :)**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Firstly, thank you to everyone who has reviewed/favourited/subscribed so far :) Secondly, a warning that there will be swearing in this and subsequent chapters; if anybody has an issue with the language, I suggest that you move on. Thirdly, I make apologies in advance for my poor updating. I am a student and sadly my essays take precedence over this.**

* * *

 **Yes Sir, No Sir:** Chapter 1

 _Seven Years Ago._

Elizabeth Bennet took a swift look around at the open grounds, smiling as she took in what would be her home for the next three years. Sure, her actual home with her crazy mum, stern dad and bratty younger sisters was way back down in old Melbourne town, but _here_. _Yeah, I could get used to this._

Somewhere behind her, a voice called out her name. She turned to greet them.

"Charlotte!" She grinned, throwing her arms around the shorter brunette and laughing as she pulled away. "Can you believe that we're actually _here_?"

Charlotte gave her a pointed look. "You are _way_ too excited to be starting the next three years of _Hell_. Hi! My name is Charlotte Lucas and I go to the military's institution for torture and finance."

Elizabeth scoffed. "Seriously? Get excited Charlotte! For the next three years we can be _normal_ uni students. None of that pomp and circumstance bullshit."

"Except for every day of the week."

"Yeah, yeah, no need to rain on my parade, we're here now and we're just going to have to suck it up and deal." Elizabeth glanced at Charlotte. They had known each other for years, having gone to school together back in Melbourne, they had both had dreams of leaving the metaphorical nest to join and serve in the military.

The Navy had always been the favoured service for Elizabeth. Father Bennet had been a naval man, made the rank of commander and served on frigates until his wife demanded he settle down for the sake of their four daughters. Now Elizabeth was following in her father's footsteps – much to the chagrin of her mother who had nagged her _endlessly_ about why she couldn't just go to law school like her older sister, Jayne.

" _Yeah, never going to happen Mum. You and I both know that I would suck at lawyer-ing, partly because I would flunk every class and mostly because if I did pass, there is a huge possibility that I would end up yelling at the judge for being an asshole."_

Elizabeth smiled fondly as remembered her mother's reaction. Until reality struck and her mother's voice broke through her reverie. Elizabeth rolled her eyes.

"Lizzie Bennet! Stop chatting with Miss Lucas and come join everyone at the reception... There are many eligible men present." Francine Bennet was a stout woman, having married a navy man and brought up four daughters she was never afraid to voice her opinion. Especially when it came to boyfriends. _Urgh._

"Seriously, Mum? Do you have to do this here? There are like, ten _thousand_ single men in Melbourne, why can't you keep it in your pants for two hours?" Francine gave her daughter a stern look before taking Elizabeth's hand and pulling her towards the rest of the family.

Despite her protests, Elizabeth couldn't help but smile as she spied her dad and sisters nestled in amongst the rest of the talking friends and families. It wasn't every day that the Academy put on a massive show and it seemed like every man, woman and child had come out to see the new procession of students settle into the ranks.

As she made her way towards them, one of the sisters squealed, "Lizzie!"

Moments later Elizabeth had a face full of dark blonde hair and an armful of— "Jayne! I think you're crushing my boobs."

Jayne immediately let go, pulling back to beam at her younger (and let's face it, favourite) sister. "I'm sorry; but Lizzie! I am _so_ proud of you! You all looked so wonderful lined up in your uniforms!"

"Yeah, despite the fact you look fat in it."

Elizabeth glared at Lydia, her youngest and most hated sister, and quickly shut her up before their father could. "At least I don't look like a slut."

Francine quickly admonished her second eldest, "Elizabeth Bennet! You will not talk to your sister like that!"

"What? She called me fat! As if you're just going to let her do that when it's _my_ parade."

"Oh get off your high horse, it isn't _your_ parade. There were like five hundred other people marching like ants next to you."

"At least one of them wasn't _you_."

Jayne tugged on Elizabeth's arm before she could start a fight, leading her through the crowded reception hall whilst the rest of their family followed behind them. She was leading them towards the food tables, gently weaving in and out until they reached the pile of paper plates and plastic cutlery. Jayne handed a set to Elizabeth.

"I wish you two would stop fighting," she observed.

Elizabeth growled. "If she wasn't so stupid maybe I would hate her less."

Jayne scoffed. "That's hardly a reason." She reached down to grab a tuna sandwich. "And besides, it's not as if there's a valid reason for you two to be so aggressive towards each other. It's not like you two spend all that much time together to give reason to all the hatred."

"Maybe it's her hair." Elizabeth spied a final slice of chocolate cake and quickly reached down to grab it, only to blink and find it gone. "What the fu—"

"Clearly you're _too_ slow." A deep male voice resonated close to where Elizabeth was standing. As she looked up she eyed the same white shoes and pants that she was wearing. When she reached the man's face, she was slightly taken aback by just how chiselled it was, all high definition and Photoshop perfection. _Well that's just fucking unfair isn't it._ His eyes were blue and looking right at her with a curious, if not somewhat smug, expression.

Elizabeth balked. "What the hell, you just stole my cake!" She didn't mean to sound as offended as she did, but there was something in the way that the guy looked at her that made her feel on edge.

"I hardly stole it from you," Mr Photoshop retorted, "Your reflexes were merely too slow to reach the slice before me."

"I'll show you reflexes."

Jayne caught her before she could do anything stupid, interrupting their tête-à-tête with an apology. "Sorry about Lizzie – she's just reeling from the parade. First one at ADFA and all."

Elizabeth snorted. "That's bullshit and you know it."

Another male voice stepped in, laughing. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree with you on that one."

Three sets of eyes turned to the male standing at Photoshop's side, who was busying himself with a mini quiche. He glanced back at them with wide eyes. "What? Darcy here stole the cake that was rightfully yours," he said, addressing Jayne. There was a momentary pause. "Charlie," he greeted, reaching out a hand. Jayne returned in kind.

"Jayne," she smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. He was cute. Slightly baby-faced but that grin could make any girl weak at the knees. She could tell that Jayne was beginning to melt at her side, all marshmallow soft and a sucker for men in uniform. "Well if _Darcy_ —" She looked pointedly as the smug expression on the taller man's face, "—would admit that, it'd be great." _Why am I even getting this defensive about cake?_ Elizabeth turned to leave.

"It's a piece of cake, get over it," Darcy mumbled. "It's not like you need it anyway."

Jayne and Charlie held their breaths as Elizabeth hesitated. Biting her tongue, she turned her head slightly. "You're very handsome Mr Darcy. If only you weren't such an arrogant arsehole."

Darcy could only watch as she walked away.

* * *

 _Present Day_.

Elizabeth shut the hatch to her cabin and dropped onto her rack. Burying her face in her hands, she leant forward to lean on her knees. She felt sick, and she knew it wasn't the fact that they were about to leave port.

 _Fitzwilliam Darcy_. It had been five years since they had last seen each other properly; two years since they had seen each other in passing. Elizabeth let out a slow breath. They'd broken up on bad terms, but in her eyes it was almost expected. She'd missed him that first year, but as time passed and her study load grew she had learned to ignore the feelings she had possessed for the tall, handsome, _sexy man in uniform_ , she had spent the better part of her uni career dating.

Seeing him now, it was almost like nothing had happened between them; that the loathing they shared for each other ceased to disappear. But there had been something in the way that he had looked at her, as he if wanted to reach across the space and rules be damned, touch her. Hug her. _Kiss_ her. Like everything that happened to them – all the heartache, all the anger, all the _pride_ – never occurred, and they were right back in that moment when he said he loved her.

That was in the past though, and despite the fact that they had a shared history together, Darcy was her commanding officer. Whatever they had had was dead and buried. Now they were simply shipmates; officers in arms and all that rubbish. All she had to do was get through this posting, then she could hightail it out of there with her career in tact and _him_ well and truly behind her.

 _It's only a year._

Elizabeth sighed, standing up and pacing the short distance between her rack and desk. That's when she saw it: a parcel sitting on her desk and a note. She reached for the piece of paper, frowning as she read it.

 _I found this a few years ago, but never had the chance to return it… I hope that we can put what happened between us in the past._

 _F.D._

Elizabeth reached for the parcel, feeling the contrasting soft and hard edges. Sitting back down on her rack, she tore open the packaging. A bar of Cadbury chocolate fell onto her lap and she smiled. He did always know her weak spot. Returning her attention to the rest of the parcel, she pulled out a navy blue bundle. She felt her heartbeat quicken as she unravelled it.

It was a cashmere sweater. Hersweater. Well, _his_ sweater until she'd pilfered one day and never returned it. He hadn't minded, but when they'd broken up she didn't think it right to keep it. And now he was giving it back to her. _Why?_

She ran a hand over the soft wool, tracing the stitching as she contemplated the gift. Bringing it up to her face, she could still smell the remnants of his cologne, as if he'd only recently been wearing it. It made her pulse race at the thought that he'd been wearing it just before she'd come aboard his ship, but she quickly shut that thought down with the reminder that it was almost forty degrees outside.

 _No_ , she concluded, Darcy hadn't worn this recently. _But damn it smells so good._


End file.
